Volunteer Structure Change & Call for Volunteers

A.J. Gruber
ISTA President & CEO



Just as every Association and its volunteers are unique, every Association’s structure is unique, too. From councils to committees to work groups, an Association accomplishes its goals through volunteer engagement. As such, it is important that we regularly evaluate our structure and be ready to adjust based on the organization’s changing needs. Throughout 2019 ISTA’s Global Board of Directors evaluated, discussed, and debated our structure to ensure ISTA is operating effectively. The result is a revised structure that will generate clarity and more efficient operation of our volunteer groups leading to even greater value for members.



The new structure better aligns our volunteer groups with ISTA programs (certification, education, research, and standards) while maintaining a focus on growing engagement with our global member base.  In practice, this means is ISTA now has Councils focused on certification, educational, standards and research directly attached to our Global Board of Directors. We have eliminated the Technical Division Board and Sustainability Solutions Division Board. Sustainability is inherent in our mission and will remain a part of the discussion within each of ISTA’s Councils to ensure it is considered throughout our programming. The matters previously addressed by the Technical Division Board will now be handled directly by our Councils. The structure and operation of our regional boards is unchanged. Below you will find further detail on ISTA’s Councils. I encourage all members to contact us about interest in participating.
 
Certification Council | Provides oversight and direction to the Association’s laboratory certification and packaged-product certification programs.  
Education Council | Provides oversight and direction to the Association’s educational efforts.  
Research Council | Provides oversight and direction to the Association’s research initiatives.  
Standards Council | Acts on all testing protocol related matters that are technical in nature including development of new protocols, review and maintenance of existing protocols. The Council also provides guidance to the Global Board on strategy of ISTA standards and executes against those identified strategies in conjunction with subsequent committees and groups.  
Other ISTA Division Boards
North American Division Board  
European Division Board  
China Division Board   
Asia Pacific Division Board   
We recently requested we are seeking workgroup participants for maintenance to two procedures. See related news items below:
Maintenance to procedure 3E
Maintenance to procedure 6-FedEx-A